Johanny OrtegaFriday Feature: Five Latina Brujas You Should Be Reading Right Now
Now that The Ordinary Bruja has officially stepped into the world (and I’m still over here smiling like a proud mama), I want to celebrate this moment by spotlighting other incredible Latina and Latine authors who’ve filled the world with stories of power, identity, and magic.
These authors are proof that brujas come in many forms — storytellers, worldbuilders, truth-tellers — each one daring to write the kind of stories that honor where we come from and who we’re becoming.
If you loved The Ordinary Bruja, you’ll want these five on your shelf next.
1. The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina – Zoraida Córdova
This book was one of the first to make me feel seen. Córdova’s story of legacy, transformation, and family secrets sits right at the crossroads of life and death — where magic breathes through grief. Like Marisol, Orquídea’s family learns that inheritance isn’t just about blood, but about the truths we carry and the ones we must face.
2. The Hacienda – Isabel Cañas
If you crave gothic atmosphere and haunting history, this is your next read. Think Rebecca meets Mexican Gothic, with a heroine who refuses to surrender to the shadows. Cañas threads together faith, horror, and identity in a way that reminds me why I love psychological tension in storytelling.
3. We Light Up the Sky – Lilliam Rivera
Rivera crafts a sci-fi story that still feels deeply human. Her characters — complex, flawed, real — mirror the emotional vulnerability I try to capture in my own writing. She reminds us that survival and identity are acts of rebellion, and that being different can be its own form of magic.
4. The Gods of Tango – Carolina De Robertis
Set in early-1900s Buenos Aires, this story follows a young woman who reinvents herself to survive. It’s a masterclass in transformation — in how we navigate gender, music, and desire to reclaim our power. It carries that same emotional pulse I love exploring: identity, freedom, and what it costs to be seen.
5. Witchlings – Claribel A. Ortega
For younger readers (and the young at heart), Witchlings is pure, sparkling joy. Claribel captures that coming-of-age wonder with heart and humor, showing that belonging and bravery are as magical as any spell. It’s a story that reminds us why representation matters — because every child deserves to see themselves wielding power.
Why These Stories Matter
Writing The Ordinary Bruja taught me that our voices — Latine, Caribbean, diasporic — carry entire worlds. We don’t just write stories; we preserve memory. These five authors continue that work, each weaving faith, identity, and resilience into narratives that reflect the multiplicity of our culture.
So while I hope you spend time in Marisol’s world this weekend, I also hope you pick up one of these. Every one of them holds a kind of magic that feels like home.
SaleProduct on saleThe Ordinary Bruja: Book One of Las Cerradoras Series – Johanny Ortega
$2.99 – $15.99Price range: $2.99 through $15.99Marisol Espinal has spent her life trying to disappear from her family’s whispers of magic, from the shame of not belonging, from the truth she refuses to face. She’s always wanted to be someone else: confident, capable, extraordinary.
But when strange visions, flickering shadows, and warnings written in her mother’s hand begin to stalk her, Marisol is forced to confront her deepest fear: what if she isn’t extraordinary at all? What if she’s painfully ordinary?
Yet Hallowthorn Hill doesn’t call to just anyone. And the more Marisol resists, the stronger its pull becomes. The past she’s buried claws its way back, and something in the mist is watching—waiting for her to remember.
If Marisol cannot face the truth about who she is and where she comes from, the same darkness that destroyed her ancestors will claim her, too.
Somewhere in the shadows, something knows her name.
And it’s time for Marisol to learn why.
SKU: Category: Books, Books for Adults, Fantasy, Fiction Books, Horror, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Women’s Fiction Tags: ancestral magic, atmospheric fiction, books about brujas, dark fantasy, Dominican folklore, haunted inheritance, Isabel Cañas fans, Latine fantasy, magical realism, psychological horror, Silvia Moreno-Garcia fans, spooky reads, supernatural mystery, The Ordinary Bruja, witchy books
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